


i can’t help falling in love with you

by iputbabyinthecorner



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Homophobia, Josh as jock duh, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, Smut, boys in love what else can i say, football player josh, i wont go too hard on the sad shit, josh takes care of ty bc Tyler gets Fucked Up, literally based off how my boyfriend and I got together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 09:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17404187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iputbabyinthecorner/pseuds/iputbabyinthecorner
Summary: Tyler and Josh navigate through their last year of high school and the challenges that force them to realize there’s more than they knew to their friendship.I’m bad at summarizing but I swear I can write. :,)Updates reasonably quickly :)





	i can’t help falling in love with you

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is gonna be a rather long one, I think... The chapters will generally be this length, and will come out approximately once a week. 
> 
> First chapter’s a bit of a prologue, so the boys don’t actually talk ‘till the end :)

Tyler closed his eyes against the sharp winter sun filtering through the window on the fast-moving bus. It was a rather nice Thursday, and he was about 10 minutes from home. 10 minutes until he could just finish his homework and sleep. Other than the fact that Tyler knew he for sure would get roped into a facetime call with Josh until 3 am, this sounded like a great plan.

Opening his eyes and squinting against the sharp brightness, Tyler pulled out one of his earbuds and looked out the dirty, finger-printed window facing away from the sun and observed his surroundings. 5 minutes left, now. Just as Tyler was starting to relax at the thought of being safely home, he heard a shout of fear followed by a resentful laugh.

"And what the fuck are you gonna do about it? Fucking pathetic."

Once he comprehended the words, Tyler's head whipped around. 

Behind him, at the back of the bus, some blonde kid who had to be a freshman was shoved out of his seat. 3 seniors, who Tyler recognized as football players Matty Faulk, Ryan Hall, and Jacob Moore, were taunting him, miming taking kicks at him as he tried to sit up from the floor of the moving bus. Tyler felt his heart sink as he realized that the kid was Dylan Reynolds, a freshman who had been publicly outed as gay in the first week of school.

"What have I ever done to you? What did I do!?" Dylan managed to cry before a kick to his stomach had his eyes watering and him favoring taking wheezing breaths over shouting.

"Shut up, you fucking fag. We can see you undressing dudes with your eyes in the halls," Ryan sneered. "Its disgusting."

Matty and Jacob laughed with no real humor behind the noise and Matty proceeded to throw Dylan's long forgotten backpack onto him. With that, Tyler stood up on the (yes, still moving) bus. He strode (read as: stumbled) towards the back row, catching the attention of his... gosh, he supposed one could call them colleagues.

All 3 older boys looked up at him immediately. Tyler didn't loom large in stature or reputation, but his presence obviously startled the three guilty boys. Dylan was so out of it, trying to catch his breath on the trash littered ground of the old schoolbus, that he wasn't focused on Tyler at all. Tyler was admittedly content with the possibility of Dylan never knowing he was there. He wasn't a hero. He didn’t want to be.

Jacob cleared his throat and tried to put up a front of unwavering confidence.

"What the hell do you want, Joseph. Shouldn't you be cutting yourself in a corner or promising your mommy that you aren't sucking Dun's dick?"

The two other boys burst out in raucous laughter at the apparently incredibly intelligent joke. Tyler rolled his eyes. This wasn't new. After a poem of his about his life he'd read in front of his freshman English class, he'd been known as a suicidal headcase with a thing for Joshua Dun, his closest friend. Even after three years of hearing this kind of thing, Tylers stomach still churned when it was brought up. He was most definitely not out to his family as gay, and didn't need some idiot varsity jock from school being the reason they hear.

"I want you to get away from him. Now. Bother me instead," Tyler said, wincing internally when he realized he'd probably just provoked a year of relentless verbal and physical bullying for himself. He decided in an instant it was worth it. Rather him than let Dylan be known for all four years of his high school career as 'That One Kid Who Was Bullied By Seniors His Freshman Year.' Tyler only had to endure it one more year before he graduated. Dylan had four left. 

The three other seniors glanced at each other with stupidly menacing smiles on their faces.

Matty grinned unnervingly and spit out, "Sure Joseph. Come get your fucking twink."

Dylan was sat up now, staring in disbelief at Tyler. Ah. So he was coherent enough to see and hear him. 

The bus lurched as it stopped and Tyler was almost thrown off balance, too preoccupied to notice that this was his stop until the bus driver, an impatient and rude older man yelled from the front of the bus, "I know at least fuckin one of you gets off here, let's go!"

"C'mon Dylan, let's go. If this isn't your stop I'll drive you," Tyler said softly, taking a few steps towards Dylan and offering a hand to help him up.

Dylan took his hand cautiously and gathered up his backpack. The three football players glared after them, talking not-so-discreetly to each other as Tyler and Dylan exited the bus.

Tyler sighed a breath of relief as he stepped outside and turned to Dylan, mouth open, ready to ask if he was okay when something hit him in the back of the head, hard. Tyler yelped in surprise, falling forward onto the ground and catching himself with his hands. Dylan ran over, a string of guilty, apologetic words leaving his mouth in a rush.

"I'm fine, man. But what the heck was that?" Tyler sat up, wincing in pain as he wiped of his now stinging, bleeding hands on his jeans. Tyler looked behind him and saw a water bottle. A full water bottle. They had thrown a full water bottle out the window of the damn bus to specifically hit Tyler, as a sort of sick reminder that he had essentially traded Dylan's year of agony for his own. Shit.

Dylan helped Tyler to his feet and examined his hands with a grimace. He turned away, running a hand through his honey-blonde hair and sighing. He looked up at Tyler almost fearfully

"I am so sorry I made you do that. It's Tyler, right?" The anxious freshman asked, looking as if he feared Tyler would turn on him, even after all of that.

"You didn't 'make' me do anything, but yeah, I'm Tyler. So do you live in this neighborhood or should I drive you to yours?" Tyler asked with a small smile.

"I live in the neighborhood by the shopping center with the Arby's. It's a 5 minute drive from here." Dylan said tentatively, blue eyes flicking around Tyler's face, trying to read if he was annoyed.

"I'll drive you. No problem." Tyler said, adjusting his backpack so one strap hung loose across his back and starting to walk in the direction of his house. Dylan stood still for a second, as if he was still comprehending that Tyler wasn't mad. Once Dylan seemingly made up his mind, he ran after Tyler, falling into step with him on the cracked sidewalk.

The 2 minute walk to Tyler's house was completed in comfortable silence. Tyler observed the sky, watching as it rather quickly turned from bright to cloudy, the sun just barely peeking through in small rays. Despite the previous relentless sun that had bothered Tyler so much on the bus, the sudden change had caused the air to become cold enough for their breath to be visible.

Tyler smiled when he realized this and experimentally breathed out softly through his mouth. The warm air turned visible in front of his face and he smiled a bit wider. Tyler saw Dylan staring at him out of the corner of his eyes, but decided he didn't care.

As they approached Tyler's house, Tyler turned to Dylan.

"This is my house. We can take my car to yours, and if those stupid guys give you trouble, always feel free to get off with me and let me drive you." Tyler smiled warmly at Dylan. Huh. He was smiling a lot more in the past few minutes than he had in the past few month. Tyler chalked it up to feeling a need to calm the younger, visibly anxious boy.

"You're sure?" Dylan asked, a nervous look on his face showing that he definitely didn't believe that Tyler was serious.

"I'm sure."

Tyler crossed over his driveway and slung his backpack across his chest, unzipping a small pocket and fishing out the keys to his old silver Honda. He unlocked the doors and gestured with his head to the car and spoke, "I'm gonna drop my bag inside and then I can drive you."

Dylan glanced at the house for a second and then nodded, opening the passenger door cautiously.

Tyler jogged over to the main entrance of his house and wrenched the door open, knowing it would be unlocked for the sight of his brothers' car in the driveway. As they shared a car, It was easy to know if both of them were home. Perks of being the oldest sibling.

"Zack, Jay, I'm home but I've gotta go for a sec," Tyler yelled into the large house once he got halfway through the door.

"Where are you going? You have choir in like 30 minutes!" The disembodied voice of Zach yelled back. Crap. Choir. That was a thing.

"I'll be back in time, ok? I've gotta drive a kid that got of at the wrong stop to his house." Tyler said, knowing that his brothers wouldn't care enough to question the white lie. He'd rather not tell them that he stood up for a gay freshman because he, too, was bullied for being gay and couldn't watch anymore. He wasn't quite ready to indulge his very conservative family that information.

"Alright whatever, but don't be late. Mom will find some way to blame us."

Tyler declined to answer, running to the bathroom in the entry hall to hastily rinse off the dried blood from his hands. He jogged back out of the bathroom, throwing his backpack on to the bench in the entry hall and running back outside, crossing the driveway again, and hopping into the car next to a startled Dylan.

"Hey, so I've got choir in 30 minutes, so I'm gonna go a bit fast. You said by the Arby's parking lot, yeah?" Tyler asked, the words flying out of his mouth in one breath as he kicked the car into reverse and backed out of his driveway. Tyler let it stay silent in the car for a about 5 seconds before he spared a glance to Dylan, who jumped when he realized he hadn't answered verbally.

"I'm so sorry, I nodded. Yeah, it is. That was stupid, of course you didn't see, you're driving..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Tyler said immediately. He thought for a second. Why was Dylan so nervous? Then it clicked. Tyler glanced over again and pressed his lips into a thin line, debating sharing what he had just connected.

"You know, just because I'm a senior doesn't mean I'm prejudiced towards you. You don't have to impress me, man."

Dylan blushed, embarrassed, and looked away. 'There is is,' Tyler thought.

"It's just that I kind of look up to you a lot? People say horrible, demeaning things to you and you just stay so calm. And I read the essay of yours that got to the state competition. It was unreal to have you stand up for me."

Tyler stared blankly ahead, shocked. He'd never heard anything that wasn't negative about his writing from anyone but Josh. Once he shook himself out of it, Tyler smiled, keeping his eyes on the road.

"That's nice to hear. My statement still stands. We're friends now, Dylan."

Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler saw Dylan smile to himself.

"Okay."

After that interaction, Tyler noticed Dylan's demeanor shift rather drastically. Instead of sitting with his eyes straight forward, back 3 inches off the seat, Dylan was relaxed, staring out the window at the houses flying past. Tyler pulled up to the park next to the strip mall with the Arby's and looked over at his passenger. 

"Where to from here?"

"Oh, its just across the park. I can walk." Tyler opened his mouth to protest, but Dylan interjected, "You've done so much already. Don't you have to get to choir anyway?"

Tyler nodded and offered a smile. "Stay safe, dude." Dylan smiled back, the first full smile Tyler had gotten out of him the whole time. He opened the door and almost closed it when he gasped and pulled out his phone.

"Could we exchange numbers?" Dylan looked excited and sheepish at the same time. It reminded Tyler of a younger him.

"Of course. Gimme your phone so I can enter in my number. You can text me anytime."

Once goodbyes were said and numbers were checked, Dylan closed the passenger door and started off across the grassy field of the park. Tyler watched after him for about 5 seconds, then jumped when he glanced at the time. 4:20. Choir was at 4:30. Crap.

Tyler threw the tired, old car into reverse yet again and pulled out of his parking spot and sped down the road, away from the park, away from the Arby's, and away from Dylan. The warm feeling of helping out a hurting friend was replaced with anguish as Tyler realized his mother would be furious if he was late.

Tyler flew around the corner into his neighborhood, pulling into his driveway and parking in the same motion. He yanked his keys out of the car and sprinted inside, locking the car as he ran. The garage was cracked open. He could see the wheels of his mom's car in there. CRAP. 

Tyler opened the door and ran inside, quickly shutting it behind him and leaning up against it. He heard the sounds of dishes being moved around in the kitchen and groaned. If his mother had been home long enough to have started doing chores, she was sure to have noticed he was gone moments before he had to be at choir.

"I'm home!" He yelled into the no longer silent house. He sped towards the stairs, hoping to make it upstairs before anyone answered.

"Tyler Joseph, get in the kitchen this second." 

Yikes. Tyler sheepishly walked into the kitchen, wincing when his mother fixed him with a pointed stare.

"Your brothers told me about your irresponsible choice today. That classmate could have walked home alone. You should have known that you have choir. It's every Thursday! This shouldn't be hard to remember!" Tyler's mom complained, angrily pulling plates from the dish washer and piling them up carelessly, not caring about the noise it was making. 

"I'm sorry, Mom. It won't happen again." Tyler said, hand at the back of his neck. "Can I go get my music? I need to leave now..."

"Go! You will not be late, do you hear me? Josephs are --"

"Not embarassments. I know, Mom." Tyler turned and walked out of the kitchen, taking the stairs up to his room two at a time. He opened the door and ran over to his desk. He picked up his music folder, pushing away his notebook and pen. He glanced around his room, feeling as if he was going to forget something. Unsatisfied but not finding anything to be out of place or forgotten, Tyler left his room, hoping that nothing had been overlooked.

——————————————————————————————

Tyler had not, to his own surprise, forgotten anything. Choir went as planned, full of blank stares when he went to hit a high note, followed by giggles of girls comparing their falsettos to his. Tyler pushed through it. This was a constant struggle. He could handle a couple of gossiping teenagers.

After 2 hours of choir, Tyler could barely keep his arms still enough to drive. He was restless. Tyler couldn’t even focus on the trees he was passing. They all blurred into a black-green smudge as he wondered idly if his dad would be home.

Pulling up to his driveway, Tyler parked, barely noticing his father’s car out front. He got out, gathered his music and tucked it under his arm, and slammed the car door shut with his hip. Tyler crossed his driveway and went inside his family home.

“Tyler, sweetie is that you?” His mom asked, acting as if she hadn’t effectively called him an embarrassment earlier.

“Yeah mom”

“Come to the dining room, I made us a salad with craisins to start.” ‘fun’ Tyler thought to himself as he dropped his music next to his abandoned backpack on the bench in the entry hall. Time for a lovely family dinner.

——————————————————————————————

“You did not. No way. You INVITED the golden trio of jackasses to bully you? Tyler, why? You could get seriously hurt.”

Josh was not taking it well. If fact, he seemed more worried than Tyler had been. The two were facetiming while Tyler was supposed to be doing his homework. Tyler had told Josh the whole story of his not-so-heroic act on the bus. It really wasn’t heroic okay?? 

Josh’s nose and eyebrows had crinkled when Tyler told him. Tyler knew from experience that this meant Josh was seriously questioning his choice. Tyler knew a lot of subtle things that Josh did that perfectly conveyed his emotions.

“It’s not that big of a deal, man. They already mess with every day, what’s the harm in taking that away form someone else.”

Josh frowned, the creases in his brow deepening. He ran a hand through his hair, tugging slightly at the baby blue locks and sighing.

“I guess you’re right-“

“I am-“

“But,” Josh continued, sticking his tongue out at Tyler for interrupting, “I think you need to be careful at school now. Even more careful than before. Especially tomorrow, it’s close to the weekend and they’re going to push your buttons as much as possible.”

Tyler hummed in consideration. That was probably true.

“Look, I’m on the football team with them, and I’ll tell you if I hear them say anything about you, okay?” Josh said, looking nervous, as if he actually anticipated something serious from those idiots.

“Josh, they’re not gonna kill me. I love that you’re looking out for me, but I’ll most likely be able to handle it.” Tyler said, smiling comfortingly at his best friend.

Josh sighed again, running a hand down his face.

“I just want to be able to protect you. I don’t want a repeat of Caleb Oarman.”

Tyler’s heart did a little flip-flop that he forced himself to believe was because of the mention of his freshman year bully, not the former statement. 

“They aren’t as cruel as he was Josh. I’ll be fine. Really.” Tyler smiled through the phone and Josh hesitated before smiling back. His eyes crinkled at the corners and Tyler mentally smacked himself for noticing. Not gay crushes on straight best friends. Not today.

“Now I have to finish this Chem homework.”

“Hey, that’s not my fault!”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments with constructive criticism or anything else you want to say!!! :)))


End file.
